1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sorting technique for recycle of device units. More specifically, the invention relates to a sorting apparatus that sorts out a object unit included in a predetermined device for recycle and a corresponding sorting method, as well as an operation verification apparatus that verifies a recycling-related operation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A certain unit included in an image formation device, for example, a recording material cartridge, is generally collected for recycle (see, for example, Patent Laid-Open Gazette No. 2001-55201). The recycling procedure checks out the respective parts of each object unit and performs required operations (for example, cleaning and replacement of parts) for recycling.
The recycling procedure unpacks each collected object unit, visually examines the respective parts of the object unit, and specifies the recyclability of the object unit according to the extent of deterioration of the respective parts. In many cases, this series of operations is manually performed and undesirably increases the recycling cost. Unpacking and visual examination are required for even units that are not recyclable and are to be wasted. Namely the time-consuming labor is wasted for the units having no advantage of recycle.